African Textiles - Brooklyn Children's Museum

Activities to do with your studentsWhat To Do1. Using the objects from the case, introduce adinkra cloth toyour students. Lead a discussion on how adinkra cloth is made.See if students can recall what they saw in the video (you maywant to play the chapter on adinkra cloth again). Invite studentsto gather around the adinkra cloth and stamp. Have studentsdescribe what they see—patterns, arrangement of patterns, gridlines, etc.2. Hand out the adinkra symbol guide and review the differentsymbol meanings. Point out the use of some of the symbolson the Adinkra Symbol Guide with those on the cloth from thecase. Ask students to consider what the adinkra cloth may meanbased on the Adinkra Symbol Guide.3. Model planning an adinkra cloth design. Have students help youconsider the different meanings of the stamps as well as theoverall cloth design. Using the stamps, demonstrate how studentsshould create their adinkra cloth. Show them how they canchoose to repeat the same pattern multiple times in each box orjust stamp their design once.4. Split the class into small groups (three to four students) andprovide each group with an Adinkra Cloth Design Grid, paper,and pencils. Instruct students that each group will be creatingan adinkra cloth design.5. When cloth design is set, instruct students to take turns at thestamping stations to stamp their paper cloths.6. Once adinkra designs are stamped, have groups write a briefdescription of the meaning of their cloth. Hang the cloths withtheir descriptions in your classroom or hallway for the durationof the unit.Try this alternative Make a classroom Adinkra cloth. Using one enlarged template (postersize) demonstrate how students can choose a symbol and stamp it once or multiple times in abox. Have students come up individually and add a symbol to the cloth.African Textiles | 26